Thanksgiving Balls

I know this is the time of year that all of the blogs are like, HERE’S WHAT YOU DO WITH THANKSGIVING LEFTOVERS. And it’s like, turkey cranberry sandwich. Or turkey salad. Or some crap like that. Well guess what! I’m no different:

Hey guys, I have this great idea of what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers. Make Turkey-Cranberry Monkeybread!!

So, it’s pizza dough, stuffed with leftover turkey and cranberries, add whatever cheese you want and slather it in sage-brown butter. It’s crack-like, seriously. So maybe you should try it out instead of turkey salad. I don’t think you’re going to regret it.

So your proportions of dough, turkey, cranberries and cheese will depend on the amount of leftovers you have, obviously. Two batches of store-bought pizza dough make a full batch of monkeybread.

Start by making your sage butter. Heat your butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. It’ll melt, then get a little foamy. Keep stirring. Keep heating. You want it to brown. After five minutes or so, you’ll start to smell the nutty aroma. Check against your spoon, make sure it’s a dark brown color. Remove from heat and stir in sage. Set aside.

So, lightly brush the inside of a bundt pan* with sage butter. Pull off large, marble-sized balls of dough and flatten. Top with a dollop of cranberry sauce, a piece of turkey and a little bit of cheese. Wrap the dough around them filling and pinch it really well to seal it. (You don’t want the guts leaking out.)

If you’re using two batches of dough, you’ll notice that about half way through the process, you’ll have a full layer in your pan. Very lightly brush the balls with the sage butter. Repeat with the remaining ingredients and create another layer.

Cover and let sit for 30 minutes, while preheating the oven to 400. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the top is a nice medium-brown. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving with the remaining sage butter.

*I actually don’t own a bundt pan. I always use my 9” round glass Pyrex baking dish, and then put a small Pyrex prep bowl in the middle, right side up. Then I’m able to fill the prep bowl with the sage butter and it doesn’t even need to come out of the dish before serving. Boom.

Fontina has an Ohio heart and Philly spunk. She loves giving you recipes for hearty food, pop-culture puns and a hell of a lot of craft beer. You can find her in the kitchen, at the bar, on Twitter or marathoning episodes of Shin Chan or Bob's Burgers online.